Aurora – A good accomplice is key to many things in life. Thievery happens to be one.
Smoky Hill guards Leon Whittington and Travis Stroth combined to pick the pocket of Grandview’s Ernest Nteza to give Whittington a breakaway layup with 17 seconds remaining to seal a wild 52-48 victory for the Buffaloes on Wednesday.
In a matter of seconds, the Buffaloes, ranked No. 4 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, went from guarding against a potential game-winning or tying basket to celebrating their ninth straight victory since losing to the Wolves on Jan. 6.
“Stroth cut him off left and brought him back to my side,” Whittington said. “I was looking at two things: his eyes, to see if he was watching me, and what he was trying to do. (Nteza) stuck the ball out just far enough and I tapped it to Stroth.”
Whittington’s layup gave him 10 points and kept the Buffaloes (16-2, 8-1 league) atop the Centennial League.
It was a fitting finale to a rally sparked by senior forward Josh Cassaday, who finished with a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and one blocked shot. Cassaday scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as Smoky Hill rallied with an 11-0 run, taking the lead for good with 4:47 remaining.
“(Chris) Fernandez and (Josh) Riddle did an excellent job guarding me in the first half,” Cassaday said of Grandview’s big men. “The spin move or the up-and-under was working in the fourth quarter. I don’t know what it was.”
Biting on those moves were the only holes in Grandview’s defense. The Wolves (11-7, 5-4) stymied the Buffaloes with their zone defense and committed just six turnovers, but were partially undone by their lack of scoring depth.
Fernandez led the Wolves with 17 points, Jordan McClung added 12 and Riddle had 9.
“Defensively I felt like we did a pretty good job,” Wolves coach Gary Childress said. “Beyond Jordan, Josh or Chris, we’re not scoring a lot of points.”
Grandview’s biggest lead was five, and Smoky Hill never led by more than seven until Whittington’s layup with 1:45 remaining put the Buffaloes up 48-40. The Wolves cut it to 50-48 with 51 seconds left and forced a turnover before Whittington and Stroth stole the show.
Smoky Hill 15 10 10 17 – 52
Grandview 12 15 9 12 – 48
Smoky Hill – Whittington 4 2-2 10, May 3 0-0 7, Ross 2 0-0 4, Cassaday 8 5-6 21, Huebner 1 0-0 2, Perry 1 0-0 2, Agyei 0 0-0 0, Stroth 2 2-2 6. Totals 21 9-10 52.
Grandview – Nteza 1 2-2 4, McClung 4 1-2 12, Riddle 4 0-2 9, Fernandez 7 2-2 17, Male 1 0-0 2, Campbell 0 0-0 0, Parker 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Storgaard 0 0-0 0, Dreman 0 0-0 0, Abrahamson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-8 48.
3-pt. goals – May; McClung 3, Fernandez, Riddle. Total fouls – Smoky Hill 10, Grandview 8. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
